US-funded 32 irrigation networks to benefit 44,000 Afghans

KABUL (Pajhwok): Thirty-two modern irrigation networks are being established in eight provinces to cover about 7,000 hectares of land, officials said on Saturday.

Eng. Nasir Ahmad Durani, the acting minister for agriculture, irrigation and livestock, signed contracts with 19 construction companies in Kabul for the 32 irrigation project worth 313 million afghanis.

The minister said the USAID-funded irrigation projects would be implemented in Balkh, Samangan, Baghlan, Parwan, Herat, Kunar and Laghman provinces and would be finished in the next nine months. He said the irrigation networks would benefit as many as 44,000 people.

Durani said the networks construction would create job opportunities and their completion would prevent 40 percent of water from going waste and increase agriculture production by 20 percent.

Aqa Mohammad, in-charge of a construction company in Baghlan, assured of high quality work on the irrigation networks, saying the facilities would be put into service ahead of the stipulated time of one year.

Lal Mohammad, Irrigation council head in Safid Khan Village of Baghlan’s Dand-i-Ghor district, expressed happiness over the projects, asking the agriculture ministry to implement such programs for farmers across the country.